


Combo Breaker

by YaYaSestrahood



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 14:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14191425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaYaSestrahood/pseuds/YaYaSestrahood
Summary: MK meets her match at Alison's monthly potluck.





	Combo Breaker

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the_other_lutece_sister](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_other_lutece_sister/gifts).



It had been ten minutes (no, eleven minutes now) since MK had arrived at Alison Hendrix’s house. Eleven minutes spent twiddling her thumbs on the front porch, listening to the cacophony of conversation and raucous laughter just on the other side of the door.

Okay, twelve minutes now. This was getting ridiculous. Steeling herself, she pushed open the front door.

She’d sort of expected a dead silence to fall over the house, everyone turning to stare at her and her clothes and her hair and her scars. _Oh, this is the weird one,_ they would whisper to each other. _I knew there had to be one._

In reality, no one even seemed to notice her enter, everyone too wrapped up in their own private conversations. Crisis averted.

She quickly scanned the crowd, eventually finding the one person she could say she sort of knew. She lowered her head, carefully weaving through the sea of strangers as she made her way over to her.

“Mika!” Sarah shouted jovially as she caught sight of her. “You made it!”

“Yes,” MK said, a small smile playing on her lips in spite of herself. She held up the tupperware container. “I brought mashed potatoes. Instant. I hope that’s alright.”

“Better than I did,” Sarah said, chuckling. “How was I meant to know what a bloody potluck was, ey?”

“Hey,” said a voice startlingly close to MK’s ear. She jumped.

“Shit!” cried the voice. MK turned to see yet another woman with her face. She hadn’t even considered that Sarah might have been talking with someone and not just standing alone waiting for her to show up with her cold potatoes. “Sorry! I’m Krystal.”

 _Krystal Goderitch._ MK had heard of her, of course, but there was something more… overwhelming about her in person. Her scent maybe.

“H-hi,” MK stammered. “I’m MK. Or Mika. If you want.”

“Here,” Sarah said, relieving MK of her container. “I know where this goes.”

“Oh…” MK managed, but nothing else came out. She watched Sarah walk away and leave her here. Alone with a stranger.

“Oh my god, I love your hair,” Krystal said.

“What?” MK said. She turned back to Krystal, stunned.

“Your hair!” Krystal repeated. She reached a hand up as if to touch it, then seemed to reconsider after seeing the panicked look on MK’s face. The thought of it made her head swimmy for some reason. “It’s just, um, really cute.”

“Oh,” MK said. Heat rushed to her face. _Hitto._ She was even worse at this than she thought she’d be. “Thank you.”

“Yeah,” Krystal continued. “Isn’t it totally weird how different we all are? Hair-wise, I mean. Don’t get me wrong, everyone’s been super nice, but honestly, it’s been one after the other where I’m just like, can I do something about whatever is going on up there?”

Krystal stopped there, taking a sip from the drink in her hand. She looked at MK like she expected her to say something. MK drew a blank.

“I mean, I didn’t actually say that, obviously,” Krystal added.

“I, uh, like your hair too,” MK finally thought to say. She opted not to mention who it reminded her of.

Krystal beamed. MK felt giddy.

“Like, I know everyone has their own story and everything, and I totally wanna hear about all that stuff, but right now, it’s all just hair and accents. Which… also super cute, B-T-dubs.”

“My accent?” MK asked, sure she’d misunderstood.

“Mhm.”

MK thought to thank Krystal again, but her throat had gone dry.

“Anyway, we’ll talk more in a bit, ‘kay?” Krystal said. “I just saw Sarah’s brother and I think I might go throw this drink in his face? You don’t wanna be there for that.”

She began to walk away, then stopped, turned back. She lay a hand on MK’s shoulder, leaned in close enough to make her dizzy. She whispered into her ear.

“So far? You’re my favorite.”

And just like that, she was gone, swallowed up into the throng of unfamiliars.

 

* * *

 

Eventually, and with a considerable amount of effort, MK was able to meet and hold at least a modest conversation with her other sisters. She tackled them in order of difficulty.

First, Cosima. Difficulty: ★

“Dude, yeah! Nerfing D.Va felt like an attack on me personally. But then they gave her missiles, so I guess all is forgiven.”

Cosima did most of the talking, and there seemed to be considerable overlap in their interests. No awkward silences. Great success.

Next, Alison. Difficulty: ★★★

“So, tell me about hacking. Is that something you go to school for?”

Though polite, Alison did ask a lot of questions. After it became clear that every answer would be some variation of ‘I’ve been living alone in a trailer for almost fifteen years,’ the conversation shifted to lighter topics: food, weather, etc. A moderate challenge, but she was able to power through.

Finally, Helena. Difficulty: ★★★★★

“It looks like Arthur likes you, lamb sestra. Here, take him.”

Unexpectedly, MK ended up holding a baby. Even more unexpectedly, this turned out to be the only challenging part of the entire exchange. Helena was much softer and kinder than she’d expected, and after bonding over a fondness for eggs, they even agreed to brunch the following weekend. Adjusted difficulty: ★★

Having successfully met all of her sisters, MK took a moment to herself on one of the lawn chairs in the backyard, nursing a cold ginger ale. It tasted like triumph.

“Hey, you.”

MK looked up and there she was again, smile sparkling in the sunlight.

 _Krystal Goderitch._ Difficulty: **???**

Words escaped MK. What was she meant to say here? _Hi?_ Hi was fine. _Just say hi._

Instead, she choked on her ginger ale.

“You okay?”

MK nodded, even as she continued to cough and sputter.

Okay, what was going on? She’d taken down all her other sisters in conversational combat, and still, _still,_ Krystal Goderitch of all people managed to turn her into a bumbling mess. It was annoying, really.

“So yeah, I meant what I said earlier. I wanna hear about you, _Mika.”_

The playful way in which her name bounced out of Krystal’s mouth nearly made her fall out of her chair. And now she was looking down at MK expectantly, because this was the part where she was supposed to say something.

...

Anything, really.

…

She couldn’t think about it. She just had to go with her gut.

MK had never trusted her gut before, and for just a brief moment, she thought to wonder why not. Then she sprang to her feet and crushed her lips against Krystal’s.

_Oh, that’s why._

After a second -- or possibly ten minutes; she felt herself being shaken loose from linear time in that moment -- she pulled away.

The scene around her was familiar, in that it was the very same scene she’d envisioned in her head earlier. All conversation had stopped, and everyone was staring at her, mouths agape.

All except Krystal, who was wearing what looked like an amused smirk. She leaned in close to MK. She whispered into her ear.

“I knew you were my favorite.”


End file.
